A 33-year-old man entered a guilty plea on Thursday and was promptly sentenced to time served in jail for committing a hate crime and two additional assaults at the main Anaheim library and a Target store.
The perpetrator, Ivory Julian Anderson Jr., assaulted a clerk at the Anaheim Central Library located at 500 W. Broadway around 6:15 p.m. on March 3, 2022, as per the Anaheim police. Anderson approached the clerk and struck him, causing the victim to fall and hit his head, resulting in loss of consciousness, stated the police.
During investigations, the victim informed the police that he accidentally bumped into Anderson and apologized by saying “excuse me.” In response, Anderson intentionally bumped into him with his body, according to Deputy District Attorney William Ha’s court documents.
Police publicized surveillance footage of the assault to assist in capturing the suspect, leading to a report of a comparable attack at a Target store located at 101 S. Euclid St., approximately two hours prior to the library incident on the same day, according to the police.
At the Target store, Anderson pushed a customer near a cash register and subsequently pursued the victim throughout the store, stated the police.
In another incident that occurred on March 12, 2022, at Betsy Ross Park in Anaheim, Anderson struck an individual three times at the back of his head and kicked him twice, informed Ha. As the victim tried to walk away, Anderson verbally insulted him, saying, “You (expletive) Mexican, you guys think you can do whatever you want,” Ha added.
Anderson pleaded guilty to charges of battery with serious bodily injury, violation of civil rights with a violent injury (both felonies), and misdemeanor counts of battery and identity theft.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Fernando Valle accepted Anderson’s plea deal and sentenced him to 312 days, which corresponded to the time he had already served since his arrest, as documented in court records. Anderson was also placed on two years of formal probation and ordered to maintain a distance of 100 yards from the library.
Prior to this incident, Anderson had a prior conviction for battery on May 9, 2021, at a Ralphs grocery store in Pasadena, where he deliberately poured scalding water on the right shoulder of an employee, Ha disclosed.
“The victim believed that she was specifically targeted due to her Asian heritage,” stated Ha. Furthermore, he mentioned that the victim and Anderson had never encountered each other before.
According to a witness, after Anderson attacked the employee with the scalding water, he proceeded to mock her while imitating a derogatory Asian accent, Ha further revealed.
